title: An algorithm to calculate a collapsed arc dose matrix in volumetric modulated arc therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The delivery of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is more complex than other conformal radiotherapy techniques. In this work, the authors present the feasibility of performing routine verification of VMAT delivery using a dose matrix measured by a gantry mounted 2D ion chamber array and corresponding dose matrix calculated by an inhouse developed algorithm.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pinnacle, v9.0, treatment planning system (TPS) was used in this study to generate VMAT plans for a 6 MV photon beam from an Elekta-Synergy linear accelerator. An algorithm was developed and implemented with inhouse computer code to calculate the dose matrix resulting from a VMAT arc in a plane perpendicular to the beam at isocenter. The algorithm was validated using measurement of standard patterns and clinical VMAT plans with a 2D ion chamber array. The clinical VMAT plans were also validated using ArcCHECK measurements. The measured and calculated dose matrices were compared using gamma (γ) analysis with 3%/3 mm criteria and γ tolerance of 1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The dose matrix comparison of standard patterns has shown excellent agreement with the mean γ pass rate 97.7 (σ = 0.4)%. The validation of clinical VMAT plans using the dose matrix predicted by the algorithm and the corresponding measured dose matrices also showed good agreement with the mean γ pass rate of 97.6 (σ = 1.6)%. The validation of clinical VMAT plans using ArcCHECK measurements showed a mean pass rate of 95.6 (σ = 1.8)%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The developed algorithm was shown to accurately predict the dose matrix, in a plane perpendicular to the beam, by considering all possible leaf trajectories in a VMAT delivery. This enables the verification of VMAT delivery using a 2D array detector mounted on a treatment head.
authors.affiliation: Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centres and Ingham Institute, New South Wales 2170, Australia. Sankar.Arumugam@sswahs.nsw.gov.au
authors.forename: Sankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arumugam
authors.forename: Aitang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jameson
authors.forename: Lois
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holloway
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011874:Radiometry; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results